Blood Is Thicker Than Water Right?
by kitsunegir100
Summary: Isla Fox is messy, unorganized, indecisive, a half-blood, and worst of all, a Gryffindor. Just the type of person that Draco Malfoy can't stand. But when they get paired together for Potions in the hopes that Draco can help her not explode EVERYTHING she concocts, he learns that she is also kind, gentle, forgiving, insanely smart, and most importantly, sees only the best in people.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Dear Miss Fox,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term 1 begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

The Leaky Cauldron was just as she had remembered it. Small, shabby, and faintly smelling of spoiled milk. There was a crowd forming near the bar, but Isla Fox ignored it, instead heading for the small courtyard, filled with weeds and flies. She approached the entrance and paused. Whenever she had gone to Diagon Alley before, she always had her father with her, and they got through the entrance using their wands. However, Isla didn't have a wand yet. Stumped, she placed her hands on her hips and blew a strand of hair out of her face. I do have Father's wand in my bag... but I do not know if using his wand is such a good idea... As she contemplated how to get through, the door to the courtyard swung open again (or rather, crashed open), and Isla twirled on her heel, eyes wide with surprise as she noticed who it was.

"My, my, if it isn't Harry Potter! Oh hello there, Hagrid."

Harry stared in surprise as a girl with the hair messier than his own stared at him.

"Er...hello," he said awkwardly. Hagrid beamed.

"Isla! How 'er yer doin'?" he greeted her with a hug. Her face turned red as she wheezed.

"Well enough until you hugged me, Hagrid," she said with a teasing smile. She turned to Harry, who subconsciously stood a little straighter under her intelligent amber gaze.

"Hello there! My name is Isla Fox, and you, sir, are famous," she said with a smile. "I expect that crowd in the Leaky Cauldron was because of you, was it? Don't worry, I won't ask to shake your hand." Harry laughed, relieved that she seemed nice.

"Hagrid, I can't seem to get into Diagon Alley. I haven't gotten my first wand, you know. Would you mind...?" she turned expectantly towards the brick wall. Harry watched in befuddlement. The entrance to Diagon Alley was a brick wall?

Hagrid fumbled with his pink umbrella, and counted the squares.

"Three up... two across..." Isla grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him back a little.

"I don't know how this works exactly, this is my first time in Diagon Alley too, see but I've learned that with magic, it's always better to stand a little bit away from the spell." she gave him a conspiratorial wink and Harry smiled a little.

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "To Diagon Alley." Isla let out a little squeak of amazement and Harry stared in wonder.

"Come on then," Isla said, linking elbows with Harry, "Let's go!"

Isla giggled as she watched Harry's head turn every which way, his eyes wide, trying to drink in everything at once.

"Amazing, isn't it? Once you've seen this, going back to the Muggle world will seem so boring," Isla commented, nudging Harry.

"Yeah..." Hagrid stopped suddenly, causing the pair trailing behind him to bump into his back.

"'Ere we are. Gringotts." Isla squealed and tugged on Hagrid's sleeve.

"May I come with you, please may I?" she asked, her eyes wide and sparkling. "Speaking of Gringotts, I need to make a withdrawal too..." she batted her eyes.

"Oh I s'ppose so," Hagrid grumbled good-naturedly. Isla exchanged an excited glance with Harry. As they walked into the bank, an enormous marble hall greeted them. Behind the counters and sitting on tall stools, there were-

"Goblins! Harry look, a real life goblin!" Isla whispered. "I've never seen one before. They look a bit like house elves, don't you think, Harry?"

"I dunno, I've never seen a house elf," Harry said, looking bemused by the info dump that he had experienced.

As Hagrid started talking to a goblin behind the counter, Isla wandered over to a different goblin.

"Hello, sir! I'd like to make a withdrawal from vault...uh...which was it again? Here, I'll just give you the key." She rummaged around in her pockets for a second before pulling out a rusty vault key and giving it to the goblin.

Peering over his glasses, he said, "Ah yes, I know exactly which vault this key opens. Come along, quickly now."

Isla waved good bye to Harry and called, "Wait for me right outside Gringotts! We can do our school shopping together! That is, if you want!" Harry nodded, and Isla grinned before following the goblin to the vault.

Harry tapped his foot anxiously as he waited outside Gringotts with Hagrid. What if she changed her mind? What if she found her own friends and wanted nothing to do with him? She was the only connection to the magical world other than Hagrid.

"Harry!" huffing and wheezing, Isla ran up to them, her eyes bright, hair sticking out of her braid in about a million different ways, and shoved a jingling bag of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. "Turns out there was a lot more in there than I expected, and I spent a good 10 minutes just exploring the vault. Sorry!" Harry smiled in relief.

"It's fine. We weren't waiting long." Isla grinned.

"Oh good. So! What's first on the list?"

Harry grimaced and Isla tilted her head. "What is it?"

"Er...actually, Hagrid says he's not feeling too well." Isla whirled to stare at Hagrid. Now that she looked closer, he did look a bit green.

"Oh my. Hagrid, maybe you should sit down somewhere?" Isla asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I think tha's jus' what I'll do. Do yeh mind if I slipped off ter the Leaky Cauldron for a bit? Yeh and Harry can jus' go over there an' get yer robes fitted. Yer gonna need 'em anyways, might as well." Isla smiled and patted Hagrid on the sleeve.

"Of course. You go and get...whatever it is that you're getting, Hagrid, Harry and I will be just fine in Madam Malkin's. Oh look, there's another boy getting fitted! Maybe we could make friends with him." Hagrid stumbled off, and Harry followed Isla into Madam Malkin's shop.

Isla took one look at the short woman smiling warmly and immediately beamed. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Madam Malkin spoke up.

"Hogwarts, dears?" she asked. "We've gotten quite a few of them. You boy, why don't you come stand over here, next to him- yes, that's good. Miss, stand on that stool across from them please, yes right there. Now hold still, you two." Isla grinned and wriggled a little.

A boy with skin so pale you'd think he never was allowed out of his house and platinum blonde hair gelled back was standing next to Harry, also getting fitted.

"Hello," the boy said (at this point, Isla was vibrating with the need to talk), "Hogwarts to-"

"Yes! Harry and I are both first years in fact. Oh, I forgot, I'm Isla Fox! That's Harry. What's your name?" chattered Isla, seemingly oblivious to the irritated look the pale boy was sending her.

"I'm Draco Malfoy and-" Isla cut him off again.

"It's nice to meet you Draco," she grinned, hopping off her stool and ignoring the protest of the witch that was in the middle of pinning her robe. She stuck out her hand to Draco. "Draco means 'dragon' doesn't it? That's a rather aggressive name. Are you an aggressive person?"

The newly dubbed 'Draco Malfoy' boy didn't seem to know what to do with her. He hesitantly shook her hand and watched her curiously as she jumped back onto her stool. Harry opened his mouth.

"Isla, maybe you should let him spe-"

"Fox. Now I remember where I'd heard that last name." Isla's expression suddenly became solemn. "You're that half-blooded child that Grayson Fox had. How is he? Still a blood traitor and living among those filthy Muggles with that Muggle wife of his?" Isla remained silent.

"What? Ashamed of your father? You should be. You can tell him when you return to your mummy and daddy that-"

"My father is dead. So is my mother. They were killed protecting those Muggles you deemed 'filthy' from the Dark wizards," said Isla quietly. Draco opened his mouth to say something, probably something equally as condescending and rude, but was silenced by Harry glaring at him and a look at the solemn girl in front of them. The silence after that seemed to stretch on forever.

By the time they were allowed to look at trims and patterns if they'd like some on their robes, Isla seemed back to normal. However, while she didn't ignore Draco, she was resolutely avoiding both of their eyes.

"Look at this silver trim, Harry! Isn't it pretty? Ooh no I want this one! Hm, or maybe this lavender one? What do you think, Draco?" When she had wandered off, and was out of earshot, Harry rounded on Draco.

"What wrong with being half Muggle?" Harry demanded. Draco wrinkled his nose.

"Muggles are not very bright, and can't use any magic at all. Can you imagine that? The uncivilized things living like that? At least that's what Father says, and I must say, I do agree. Enough about Muggles. My father's next door getting my books, and Mother is looking at wands. I wanted to get a new broom, but first years aren't allowed to bring their own. Lousy rule if you ask me." Harry was liking this Malfoy person less by the second.

"I think I'll just bully Father into getting me one and smuggle it into Hogwarts. I'll manage, I'm a pure-blood and my father's in the Ministry. They've got to take it easy on me." Draco continued talking, not noticing- or perhaps not caring- that Harry wasn't listening to him anymore and was instead trying to get the attention of Isla, who was talking to a rather agitated witch.

When Isla had finally decided on a trim (she had picked the first one she had chosen in the end), Harry, Isla, and Draco stood waiting outside Madam Malkin's.

"Draco did you come with your friends? Or just your family? Don't most wizards and witches do their school shopping with their friends while the parents talk? At least, that's what I'd like to do, y'know, if my parents were still alive. Oh Harry don't give me that look, it doesn't bother me, at least not as much anymore."

Draco stared at her, wondering why she was still talking to him. He had been hoping that she'd be that kind of person that he could bully, but it was no fun if she had no reaction. And why had she asked if he came with friends? Everyone knew that pure-blood children were sheltered and usually hadn't any friends.

"No, I only came with my parents. If I had any friends, I wouldn't waste time with just anybody, you know, pure-bloods are very particular about the people their children associate with." Isla gave him a pitying look, and suddenly Draco felt very self-conscious and defensive. "I certainly wouldn't want a half-blood as a friend. Harry, were both your parents magic folk?"

"If you mean they were a witch and wizard, yeah, they were."

"Were? Are they dead too? Pity. What's your surname, anyways?" Draco said. At this, Isla cut in.

"What does it matter,anyways? Draco, are you going to do your shopping with us or not? It must be horribly boring to shop with your parents, although I wouldn't mind, you seem like the type that does." Isla stuck out her tongue, and Harry had pulled Isla aside and was complaining to her, but Draco wasn't paying attention to that. Go shopping with them? His first reaction was that Isla was a half-blood, and Harry had unknown origins. But why did Isla invite him when he was obviously not fond of her, and blatantly bullying her? She's either stupid, or stubbornly thick-skinned, he thought, but spoke up anyways.

"Fine then, if you want me to come shopping with you, I will. Why don't you guys go get your textbooks at Flourish and Blott's while I tell my mother where I'm going? Don't get lost, do you need me to draw you a map?" Draco sneered. Isla grinned.

"Nope, I already have a map...somewhere, but I don't know where I put it. Oh well, we'll find it. Don't worry! Come on, Harry, if Draco takes too long, we can take a peek at the older student's books too!"

As they walked off, Draco turned away and grimaced. Why exactly did he agree to that?

**A/n: Hello friends! This is my second fanfiction, this time of the Wizarding World of HP! Check out my other fanfic if you like anime, more specifically, Naruto- Nothing to Lose, by yours truly: kitsunegir100 !**

**About Draco Malfoy. I am in no way romanticizing the way he acts. I believe that he is a coward and a bully and I am not defending him (as Isla will later on in the story oooo~ spoiler alert!) but, um, I don't know where I was going with this, but his behavior is INTOLERABLE! I am in no way saying that it's okay for him to act this way because Isla will always forgive him! Nu-uh! But it is a Draco Malfoy x OC story, and so if his behavior bother you... I'm sorry! It bothers me too! There will be character development! And...yeah! Oh and yeah, there will be times (mainly when I'm trying to write fluff) when Draco will be slightly OOC, because I'm a huge sucker for cheesy romance. So yeah! (I need to stop saying 'yeah' .)**

**I LOVE comments! Comment comment comment! Please?**

**~Julie 3**


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